Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an increasing medical burden due to the aging demographics of the US population. The most common form of dementia among older adults, AD affects parts of the brain important for memory formation and retrieval, seriously impairing a person's ability to live independently and cope with daily activities. In collaboration with the NIH Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Program, we seek to develop phosphodiesterase Type 4 (PDE4) allosteric modulators for improving cognition in accordance with the Target Product Profile below. Ideally, the therapeutic will improve cognition in MCI patients and impact AD pathophysiology, thereby slowing conversion to probable AD. Drug PropertiesMinimum Acceptable ResultIdeal ResultPrimary Drug IndicationImprovement of cognition in persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) due to probable ADSlowing of conversion from MCI to probable ADPatient PopulationPatients with MCI due to probable AD according to the NIAA/AA working group criteriaPatients with MCI due to probable AD according to the NIAA/AA working group criteriaDelivery ModeOralOralTreatment DurationChronicChronicRegimenOral, once dailyOral, once daily PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: With a growing elderly population in industrialized nations world-wide, drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) are a critical unmet medical need. We are seeking to develop a new treatment for AD based on allosteric modulation of phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D). Ideally, the treatment will reverse or stabilize cognitive decline due to AD.